A Goal by Ferran Torres Has Placed FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Final. They Will Play in Seville Against Real Madrid.
It Will Be the Third Clásico of the Season After the 0-4 in LaLiga at Bernabéu and the 2-5 in the Super Cup in Arabia.
Pedri Imperial, as Always
Barça Has Earned the Right to Play the Final by Planning a Very Intelligent Match at the Metropolitano Against Atlético. They Dominated the Match in the First Half and Resolved It with a Goal by Ferran. Atlético Was a Broken Toy in the Hands of a Barça That Did Whatever They Wanted with Them.
Another Exhibition of an Imperial Pedri. He Does Everything Well, Never Makes Mistakes. He Runs, Runs, and Runs, and Not Only Does He Not Get Tired, but He Also Imprints the Most Precision to His Game.
Pedri Led, Once Again, His Teammates to Victory. The First Half Was Tense, with a Lot of Friction, as Was Predictable Against Atlético of Cholo Simeone. But Barça's Players Put on Their Work Suits and Faced the Challenge.
The Clearest Chances Were for Barça. Pedri Set the Tempo of the Match and Was Well Supported by Frenkie De Jong in the Pivot. Up Front, Ferran Replaced Lewandowski and Proved Hansi Flick Right with His Goal.
As Was Also Predictable, in the Argentinized Atlético, They Went After Raphinha from the First Moment. They Had a Grudge from Their Last Duel with Brazil.
The Other Side of Flick's Barça
Already at Six Minutes, Martínez Munuera Was Intimidated and Didn't Dare to Expel Azpilicueta with a Direct Red for a Criminal Tackle on Raphinha. "It's the First," the Atlético Defender Told the Referee. The First, but He Was Close to Sending Raphinha to the Hospital.
Lamine Yamal Also Took Quite a Beating. But Flick's Men Didn't Turn Their Backs on the Match and Knew How to Respond to Atlético's Toughness with Talent.
In the Second Half, Barça Showed Another Side. They Stopped the Offensive Exquisiteness and Limited Themselves to Defending the Result with Tooth and Nail.
This Time It Wasn't About Being Better Than the Opponent. It Was Enough to Beat Them. Simeone Brought on Sorloth to Sow Panic.
A Couple of Clear Chances Arrived, but the Truth Is That Szczęsny Barely Had Any Work or Compromising Goal Situations.
Simeone's Tactic: Toughness and Theater
Simeone's Strategy Was Very Clear: Go in Hard and Look for Cards on the Opponent by Acting. Munuera Fell for It, Showing Cards to Barça in Plays Where There Wasn't Even Physical Contact.
Sorloth and Griezmann Were Close to Scoring, but Raphinha Responded with an Almost Goal. In That Same Play, Up to Four Different Players Fouled Lamine Yamal.
Flick Brought on Araujo Instead of Cubarsí to Face Sorloth with Height. It Worked. He Also Made the Right Call by Placing Eric García in the Midfield; They Had to Resist.
As the Minutes Passed, Atlético Kept the Ball, and Barça Limited Themselves to Resisting, Losing the Command of the Match They Had in the First Half.
But the Truth Is That Atlético Played Without Soul, Barça Took Care of Deactivating Julián Álvarez and Atlético's Players Ran Like Headless Chickens.
Barça Held the 0-1 Until the End, Playing an Intelligent Match That Allows Them to Remain Unbeaten Since the Start of 2025. Real Madrid Awaits in the Final.
It's the Same Real Madrid of the 0-4 and the 2-5. The Same That Reached the Final with Referee Help Against Celta and Referee Help Against Real Sociedad.
Flick and His Men Are Already Counting on That.